The association aims to recognize the outstanding achievements of faculty and alumni with their awards. Some of the awards are given to assistant, associate and full professors based on their work as teachers, researchers and administrators while other awards are given to alumni, such as Turner, based on their “accomplishments in professional life and service to their alma mater.”

Turner’s remarkable professional career includes working as a state-certified appraiser in the real estate business for more than 30 years. Additionally, he has served in numerous leadership positions including vice president of the Missouri State Fair Foundation in 2009, president of Chillicothe Industrial Development, Inc. in 1993, and president of the Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce in 1980. He served on both the Missouri and the National Association of Realtors. He is also the former campaign chairman and chief of staff for the late Congressman Jerry Litton and is currently vice president for the Jerry Litton Family Memorial Foundation.

Turner is a long-time devoted and outspoken advocate for Mizzou with a sustained legacy of service to the University that is unmatched. He is a founding member and past chairman of the University of Missouri Flagship Council, a private, statewide group of alumni and friends who advocate for MU in the capitol. He was a member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators from 1985-1991, serving as president in 1989.

Turner is a member of the Jefferson Club Fellow and Legacy Society. He is also a Charter Member of CAFNR’s Monticello Society and a Life Member of the Mizzou Alumni Association.